The American Hockey League announced today that Norfolk Admirals left wing Mathieu Darche has been named the Rbk/AHL Player of the Week for the period ending November 18, 2007. In his first four AHL games of the season, Darche erupted for 10 points on three goals and seven assists.

(WHL.ca) The BOSTON PIZZA WHL Player of the Week is forward Dana Tyrell of the Prince George Cougars.

Tyrell picked up seven points in three games during the week of October 29th through to November 4th. He scored six goals, one assist and was plus one, helping the Cougars to a 3-0 record in that span.

On Monday, October 29th, the WHL Western Conference leading Vancouver Giants rolled into the CN Centre to face the Cougars. Tyrell picked up 2 power play goals to secure the Cougars 3-0 victory over the Giants. He also was named the games 2nd Star.

The WHL has announced the WHL All-Stars roster that will participate in their two games in the Canada/Russia Challenge. Lightning prospect Mitch Fadden will participate in both games for the WHL while Dana Tyrell will participate in one game for the team. According to the press release, "Team WHL was selected by a special committee of WHL General Managers along with Al Murray, Hockey Canadaâ€™s Head Scout for the Canadian National Junior Team, as part of the selection process for the 2008 World Junior Hockey Championships." The Canada/Russia Challenge is an annual tour through the three Canadian junior leagues by a team of "select" Russian under-20 players. Because Russian Superleague clubs rarely release their best young players to play in the tournament, the Canadians have enjoyed an overwhelming advantage at this event. Last year the Canadian junior leagues went 6-0 in the Challenge.

The BOSTON PIZZA WHL Player of the Week is forward Mitch Fadden of the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Fadden recording four goals, three assists and was plus five, in three games during the week of September 24th to September 30th, helping the Hurricanes to a 2-1 record in that span.

On Friday, September 28th, Fadden recorded two goals and an assist as his Hurricanes fell subject to the Kootenay Ice's come from behind victory 5-4. He was also named the game's 1st Star. The following night, Saturday, September 30th, Fadden picked up a goal and an assist as the Hurricanes downed the Saskatoon Blades 3-1. On Sunday, September 30th, the Hurricanes traveled to Edmonton to take on the Oil Kings, Fadden scored one goal and an assist as Lethbridge went on to shutout the Oil Kings 3-0.

Fadden, a 19-year-old product from Salmon Arm, BC is in his fourth season in the WHL, and was recently drafted at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, in the 4th round, by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The nominations are in and the list has been carefully whittled down to 21: The Bolt Prospects Lightning All-Time All-Dog team, a celebration of the very worst of the Lightning's first 14 years in the league. The rules were simple: no player whose rights are currently held by the Lightning could make the list (no need to poison present day morale) and only players with 10 or more games in a Lightning jersey could carry home the coveted silver dog dish. The competition was fierce, but in the end, the liquidy nasty stuff sank to the bottom.

We're going to switch gear and do something a little fun over the next week or two. One of the next features we're going to have on the site, now that we've released our 15th season All-Time Lightning Team is to create the All-Time Lightning All-Dog Team. We're going to go back through 14 seasons of Lightning hockey to reminisce on some of the worst players ever to wear the bolt and we need your help in crafting the list.

Here's the rules:

1.) You can't nominate any player whose rights are currently held by the Lightning. We're not looking to poison morale in the present, just to look back fondly on some of the bad old days. Sorry Tim Taylor haters, take it down the road.

2.) Whoever you nominate has to have played at least 10 games in a Lightning jersey. You lucked out Mario Larocque.

In the end we hope to have 12 awful forwards, 1 punchless enforcer, 6 defenseless defensemen and 2 sieve-like goaltenders. Nominees will be graded by the Bolt Prospects staff based on only the most unscientific of criteria, the foremost of which will be the shear stench they emitted while on the rink.

Don't feel like you have to give us all 22 players. Individual nominations are actually preferred. Use this blog thread to nominate who you think was the biggest mutt in Lightning history and give us a paragraph on why you think that player should be thrown in the pound. Then, keep checking Bolt Prospects over the next couple of weeks to see if we put your pooch on the list.

Now that we're in a lull in the hockey world (and talking about logos to pass the time), I thought it would be a good time to roll out a couple of features we've been kicking around here at Bolt Prospects for a while. Without much fanfare, the Lightning will reach a bit of a milestone this coming season as it will be their 15th in the NHL. The franchise is coming of age. 5 playoff appearances, 2 division titles and a Stanley Cup later the Lightning are no longer the league's fledgling Southern experiment. The Lightning, the first of their expansion cousins to hoist Lord Stanley's chalice, have proven hockey can work south of the Mason Dixon and have etched their place in the sport's history with blood, sweat and unyielding effort.

To celebrate this milestone, Bolt Prospects would like to take you on a trip down memory road to a fairgrounds halfway to Brandon, a baseball stadium in St. Petersburg, and a Forum that used to be a Palace. In these places, which now only exist in our recollection, we saw dozens of world class athletes put on the Lightning sweater and challenge the elite of the NHL. This, we think, is the best of the best: Bolt Prospects' All-Time Lightning Team:

Lightning Prospect Dana Tyrell has been named to the roster of the Junior U20 team, as one of 15 forwards representing Canada in the Canada/Russia Super Series. Additionally, Tyrell is one of only 13 WHL players named to participate in this event.

The Canada/Russia Super Series will help coaching staff evaluate and develop players for the 2008 IIHF World Junior Championship. Games are scheduled to be held August 27th to September 9th. The first game of this series will be played in Russia.

One of the things that tends to get lost in the shuffle of watching the Lightning's young prospects develop is just how much emphasis the team puts on drafting intelligent young men with a surplus of character. Case in point: On Friday Mike Lundin was named to the Hockey East All-Academic team for the fourth straight season to wrap up a sterling academic career with the University of Maine. For his career acheivements, Lundin was named a 'Distinguished Scholar' after posting a 3.0 or better GPA for four straight years in college.

The Lightning and Lundin are currently in negotiations regarding his first pro contract and the young defenseman is likely to begin his pro career next season with Norfolk of the AHL.